Remember the Dead
by LokasennaHiddleston
Summary: CW-AU! During the conversation between Steve and Wanda, it's Tony that shows up, not Vision - and he's not happy with what Steve has been saying. It's time for Wanda to get a wake up call. Wanda on Team Iron Man AU. POV Wanda.


**This is a Captain America: Team Iron Man story, an AU on what I think Wanda should have done in CW. It does not take into account any events post-CW. Team Cap people should probably step out of this one.**

 **Full summary:**

 **Self-given prompt: Imagine... Black suit! Dad! Tony from the Homecoming trailer giving Wanda a stern-talking to in Captain America Civil War.**  
 **During the conversation between Steve and Wanda, it's Tony that shows up, not Vision - and he's not happy with what Steve has been saying. It's time for Wanda to get a wake up call.**

 **Pairings: none. Vision/Wanda in future installments**

 **Remember the Dead**

"This job… We try to save as many people as we can. Sometimes that doesn't mean everybody. But if we can't find a way to live with that, next time, maybe nobody gets saved."

Steve's heartfelt words were a balm for Wanda's wounded heart - or they would have been had a knock not sounded at the door, interrupting their conversation. Wanda knew who it was even before the figure pushed his way inside.

"Tony," Steve said, clearing his throat and straightening his back. "I didn't know you were back."

"Yes, well… Surprise," Stark drawled.

He looked different from the last time Wanda had seen him. He was dressed in black from head to toe. Wanda would have said he was in mourning–but grief was never too far from Stark's mind, so she didn't see what had warranted the change.

"We have guests," he added. "The Secretary of Defense. Thaddeus Ross."

"Ross?" Steve recoiled. "You mean…"

"Yes. That Ross. He has a little presentation set up for us."

Steve nodded and got up. "Thanks for letting us know."

It was a dismissal, but Stark didn't move. He turned away from Steve and looked directly at Wanda.

"Can I talk to you for a minute, Wanda? Alone."

Steve scowled. "But… You just said the Secretary of State.."

"Isn't going anywhere," Stark cut him off. "I had Vision keep him company. And this is important."

Steve opened his mouth to protest, but Stark didn't let him speak. "I insist."

"It's fine, Steve," Wanda said. She wasn't afraid of Stark. He could come in and flex his muscles as much as he liked - she could see right through it, and she wasn't afraid of him.

"Do us a solid, Cap, and help Vision with old Thunderbolt. We'll be right there."

Steve wasn't happy, but he complied. Stark entered Wanda's room and closed the door behind himself with a decisive click.

It was sort of strange. Wanda hadn't been alone with Stark… ever. He didn't usually stay at the compound, and when he visited, he tended to keep his distance from her, which was just the way she liked it.

It would appear he had decided to change his approach.

"Couldn't help but hear the tail end up the conversation there. Seems like our fearless leader has been filling your head with bullshit in my absence."

Wanda couldn't help but bristle under his cold eyes. "Steve's right. We can't just give up."

"No, no we can't. But we can't wave off the dead either, Wanda." Tony's eyes could have been chips of ice for all the warmth they held. "I want to make this clear to you. I don't know what Steve is thinking these days - that's your field - I should think. But this… This right here, what you guys are doing, isn't going to work."

"So you agree with them then?" Wanda laughed. "That it's my fault."

To her surprise, Stark shook his head. "Lagos isn't on you, Wanda. It's not. But other things are. And I'm beginning to think I made a mistake in burying it all."

Stark retrieved a tablet from his pocket and flicked the display. Images bloomed on the screen and started to hover mid air. With the ease of long-term practice, Stark guided them within Wanda's view. They were shots of… people. Men. Women. Some young, some old. She didn't know them.

"Sari Odanu. Student. Kate Holmes. Mother of two. Tourist. Jean Luis Belmont. Businessman. You know what these people have in common? They're all dead. They died in Johannesburg - because of you."

Wanda jolted and tried to turn away from the photos. Stark flicked his fingers and the images appeared in front of her again. "Don't. Don't look away. You need to look at this, Wanda, and remember their faces - because this is what happens when you make a mistake. You can't afford to just shrug it off."

"It wasn't…"

"Don't," Stark cut her off. "Don't you dare, not to me. Bruce is my friend. I know what I fought in Johannesburg, and that wasn't him. You need to stop living a lie, Maximoff. These people - they're not on Bruce. They're on you."

The furniture in the room started to shake. The lights began to flicker.

"And what about you, Stark?" Wanda spat venomously, shooting to her feet and glaring at him. "When are you going to atone for your dead?"

"Oh, honey… You already know the answer to that question."

His smile was so cold it was practically arctic, but he didn't flinch away from her. And she did know. She could see the answer in his eyes.

He had started to atone through Iron Man, through shutting down the weapons division of Stark Industries. Things hadn't always worked out great… But he was trying, regardless.

And yet, she could still remember - the shell, that damn shell she had stared at for days - the twin to the one that had killed her parents. Stark.

"I had a meeting at MIT earlier," Stark said without looking away from her. "A woman came up to me. Her son, Charlie Spencer had died in Sokovia." Another photo floated to join the other ones. "All these people, Wanda… Can you really just forget them?

"It's not about me and you. You can hate me all you like. You're not the first, and you won't be the last. But you need to understand that hating me won't change what you've done. You need to remember the dead."

Something in his tone snapped Wanda out of her furious trance. The dead.

She remembered it, all right. She remember how it had felt like when Pietro had been killed in Sokovia. Dying herself would have been more merciful.

"What about Pietro?" she croaked out. "Who remembers him?"

Stark's expression softened, ever so slightly. "You do. And me. And Clint. Nobody wanted your brother to die, Wanda. Believe it or not, I am sorry about your loss. I lost someone important to me too, you know."

The name popped up in Wanda's head without her even trying to pick it up from his mind. JARVIS.

The bitter taste of grief filled her mouth–-both her own, and his. She would have said that she could hardly compare an artificial intelligence with her brother, but it was hard not to, when she could feel his emotions, so real so there.

"All these people, they have families too, Wanda. They feel that grief too. I agree with Steve. We need to go on, to continue our work. But things are difficult now. We have to work together with the international community. We have to be careful, to minimize casualties. Isn't that why the Avengers exist to begin with - to protect the innocent? If at the end of the day, the innocent pay the price for our arrogance, what's the point of even fighting?

"You're an Avenger now, Wanda. You made a choice to change. It's not always an easy road, and there are people who will make it harder. But you have to remember what you're fighting for."

"To remember the dead," she whispered. "And to make amends. Fix my mistakes."

"That's right."

Wanda looked at him - and it occurred to her, for the first time, that they were more alike than she had ever thought. They both had blood on their hands.

Somewhat bitterly, she thought that her hands might just be more red than his. He might have built that missile, but he hadn't shot it. She on the other hand, had known exactly what she was doing when she had unleashed the Hulk - and she hadn't cared.

She covered her mouth with her hand, suddenly finding it very difficult not to hurl.

"I'm sorry," she breathed out. "I'm sorry for what I did to you. And for… Johannesburg."

Stark's face shut down so quickly he almost seemed like a machine. "It's not me you should apologize for that last bit. And if you want to make amends, sorry won't cut it. You know that."

He left her then, and Wanda was thankful for it. The moment he was gone, she rummaged through her things and found the one photo of herself and Pietro she had left.

It was old, yellowed, the edges frayed after all the times she had cradled it in her palm. It had been taken years before - before she had turned herself into a weapon for revenge - on their birthday. They'd had so few occasions to smile during their lives, but that day, they had smiled, and it had been precious to her.

"Oh, Pietro… What do I do? Where do I go from here?"

There was no reply. Pietro was gone, her other half long dead, buried and forgotten.

Stark was right. The dead couldn't be ignored.

She needed to make this right, and she couldn't do that by ignoring her responsibility. And she would start today.

Later, after Wanda had washed her face and managed to compose herself, she joined the rest of the team in the meeting room. She narrowly managed not to shudder when she passed Ross. The way he looked at her made her skin crawl.

She was almost grateful when he started his speech - as frustratingly full of accusations as it was. At least he wasn't solely focusing on her anymore.

And then, Ross started to play a video. It seemed a review of all the incidents the Avengers had starred in.

Shortly after the Hulk's image appeared on-screen, the lights began to flicker again. The screen froze mid-presentation and shut down. Electricity died. Stark cursed.

"What the hell? You been messing with my facility, Rogers? Please tell me you didn't go into one of your old-man "what does this button do" mental zones again."

For a brief instant, Steve looked outraged. The moment died, and then, he scratched his head, looking for all the world like the guy in the USO movies. "Err… No idea. You know I'm not that great at tech, Tony."

Wanda knew for a fact that the Avengers compound received energy from an arc reactor. The electricity wouldn't shut down just like that.

"Maybe we could just move on without the movie, Mister Secretary," Natasha suggested smoothly.

Ross looked disgruntled, but agreed. The lights turned back on just as he was starting to distribute the massive document he had come to discuss.

"You really think this is going to help?" Wanda asked Stark later, when she managed to get a moment with him alone.

"It's a step forward," he said. "Read it. Read every line. And when you're done tell me what you think about it.

"I won't lie, not all of it is great - but we can work with it, Wanda. I'm not going to let these people destroy the Avengers. Believe me. We're necessary. But we just have to do things right."

Wanda nodded. By the time Steve left for London, she had made her decision.

She had never thought she would take Stark's side in anything - but this wasn't about Stark. This was for Pietro, and for every other person who had died, because of her misguided revenge.

She would make things right. It would take time, but somehow, she would do it.


End file.
